Congressman Cohen Questions Formula Used by FAA in Awarding Coronavirus-Related Airport Grants

Press Release

Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its Subcommittee on Aviation, today asked the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation for an explanation of how small airports received "massive windfalls" under last year's Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act at a hearing on "Assessing the Federal Government's COVID-19 Relief and Response Efforts and Its Impact." He also asked the Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues in the Government Accountability Office about how much of the funding provided to large and small airports has been expended.

Congressman Cohen has been an outspoken critic of the misguided funding formula devised by the U.S. Senate and the Federal Aviation Administration that provided years' worth of operating funding to some small airports. In a letter to FAA officials in April 2020, he questioned how McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, with far fewer flights and passengers, was set to receive more money than Memphis International Airport. In July 2020, he also sent a letter to House leadership expressing his concern and requesting that the formula be rectified in future relief packages.

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